Rally calls for new leadership at Albany's Pride Center

Board of directors of LGBTQ group says it supports CEO

By Larry Rulison

Updated 6:41 pm, Saturday, September 9, 2017

Photo: By Larry Rulison

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Sheilah Sable, left, talks at a rally Saturday in Albany's Dana Park calling for leadership changes at the Pride Center of the Capital Region. Teela Wild, is at center, and Eoghann Renfroe is at right. Those who attended the rally walked to the Pride Center on Hudson Street with a letter outlining the demands of the group, which includes dozens of LGBTQ community members, including past board members of the Pride Center. less

Sheilah Sable, left, talks at a rally Saturday in Albany's Dana Park calling for leadership changes at the Pride Center of the Capital Region. Teela Wild, is at center, and Eoghann Renfroe is at right. Those ... more

Photo: By Larry Rulison

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Eoghann Renfroe speaks Saturday at a rally in Dana Park in Albany calling for leadership changes at the Pride Center of the Capital Region. The group, of about two dozen, walked a letter of demands over to the center on Hudson Street after the rally. less

Eoghann Renfroe speaks Saturday at a rally in Dana Park in Albany calling for leadership changes at the Pride Center of the Capital Region. The group, of about two dozen, walked a letter of demands over to the ... more

Photo: By Larry Rulison

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Morgan Hoag speaks out about bias against transgender women at a rally in Albany Saturday calling for leadership changes at the Pride Center of the Capital Region.

Morgan Hoag speaks out about bias against transgender women at a rally in Albany Saturday calling for leadership changes at the Pride Center of the Capital Region.

Photo: By Larry Rulison

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Eoghann Renfroe speaks to a crowd of local LGBTQ community supporters that held a rally Saturday, Sept. 9. 2017 and walked a letter to the Pride Center of the Capital Region on Hudson Street demanding leadership changes, including the ouster of CEO Martha Harvey. The Pride Center board says it backs Harvey but is listening to those who have been asking for changes related to racial diversity and inclusion, especially for transgender members. less

Eoghann Renfroe speaks to a crowd of local LGBTQ community supporters that held a rally Saturday, Sept. 9. 2017 and walked a letter to the Pride Center of the Capital Region on Hudson Street demanding ... more

Photo: By Larry Rulison

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During a rally Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017, members of the local LGBTQ community called for the resignation of Pride Center of the Capital Region CEO Martha Harvey, back left. The Pride Center board said it supports Harvey and has no plans to remove here. less

During a rally Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017, members of the local LGBTQ community called for the resignation of Pride Center of the Capital Region CEO Martha Harvey, back left. The Pride Center board said it ... more

Photo: By Larry Rulison

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Rally calls for new leadership at Albany's Pride Center

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ALBANY -- Dozens of members of the local LGBTQ community held a rally Saturday at Dana Park on Lark Street calling for new leadership at the Pride Center of the Capital Region.

The group, which includes several former Pride Center board members, wants Pride Center CEO Martha Harvey to resign and a new board put in place over claims they have marginalized certain community members, especially transgender women.

"In order for us to move forward, they need to step up and firmly and loudly proclaim that trans women are women, trans men are men, and non-binary people are valid in their identity, and that people of color belong at the Pride Center," Morgan Hoag, one of the speakers at the rally said. "And they need to do this not just in words. We need to see action on this in order to move forward."

Although Harvey had just asked people what they thought of the article, some in the local LGBTQ community viewed the post as "transphobic."

(A non-binary transgender person is someone who does not fit in the traditional male or female gender type and may have fluid, weak or multiple gender identities.)

The link to the article was ultimately removed from the center's Facebook page, and Harvey later apologized in a subsequent post, calling the article "inflammatory, thoughtless, hurtful, insensitive," and saying she never intended to hurt anyone.

"I made a grave error in judgment when I posted the article on this page, and for that, I am truly sorry," Harvey later wrote on the center's Facebook page.

One of the former board members at the rally was Angela Ledford, a College of Saint Rose political science professor who resigned from the Pride Center board last month in support of transgender equality.

"Our obligation as social justice warriors is to put those most at the margins at the center of our activism," Ledford said during the rally. "And this what we're here for today - to put that pressure on the center. We love the center... This is isn't about being angry at the Pride Center — we're the pride center."

Ledford and others at the rally walked the couple of streets over to the Pride Center's brownstone on Hudson Avenue, where they delivered a letter of their demands to the center's board of directors, who along with Harvey were holding a two-hour community forum on the group's concerns.

Although the press was asked to leave the forum so that participants could feel free to speak their minds, board president Joseph Kerwin later came out to speak to the press in support of Harvey. He said the board of directors of the Pride Center had no intention to remove her or ask for her resignation.

"The board of directors supports the executive director," Kerwin said. "She's doing a good job."

Harvey, who remained inside for the meeting, could not be reached for comment later in the day.

Kerwin said the center's board had listened and would continue to listen to those who were rallying against them.

"We have a responsibility to hear them, hear what their concerns are, to validate that and to look for ways as an organization we can respond to that by being more inclusive and by being more representative," Kerwin said. "These are all values of the organization. It's been part of the history of this organization for 50 years. This is what we're about, and we're open to hearing what we can do better."

Kerwin was asked about the Feminist Current article that was posted on the center's Facebook page that caused the uproar back in July. He said some arguments of the article, entitled "Lesbianism is under attack, though not by the usual suspects," were valid.

But he said he found some of the characterizations of trans women, as sometimes bullying lesbians into relationships, to be problematic.

"You know, we live in a world of social media," Kerwin said. "And sometimes social media is not the best place to have these discussions. A lot of stuff gets lost, a lot gets misunderstood, and I think we're better off to have them together like were having this afternoon."

Not everyone at the rally stayed to talk at the forum. Others left, saying they had made their point.

"We want action to fix the problems," said Eòghann Renfroe, one of the rally organizers. "And to make sure we can move forward to bring back a community center that is inclusive to everyone in the community."